Brazilian flat steel producers have fully applied a price increase of around 10% to their domestic markets and a second 10% price increase was being planned for next month.All flat steel products were already being sold domestically at prices 10% higher than last month, in line with an announcement in February, with the exception of heavy plate, for which the increase was only 5%.Fastmarkets' pric...Read More

Trading activity in the export market for CIS-origin long steel products was nonexistent in mid-March because the market uncertainty caused by the 2019-nCoV coronavirus pandemic undermined demand that was already modest.And buying activity in the major sales outlets was reduced due to recent heightening of the political tensions in the Middle East, particularly in Turkey, Iraq and Lebanon.The Egyp...Read More

The United States' International Trade Commission (ITC) and Department of Commerce have launched separate investigations into imports of common alloy aluminium sheet from 18 countries, the Aluminum Association told Fastmarkets on Friday March 13.The investigations follow petitions filed by the Aluminum Association's Common Alloy Aluminum Sheet Working Group on March 9.The Aluminum Association, alo...Read More

The three-month copper price on the London Metal Exchange continued its descent at the close of trading on Monday March 16, settling at its lowest level since November 2016 after breaching key support levels throughout the day.The rest of the base metals complex similarly depreciated over the day's trading.Copper's outright price on the LME closed at $5,290.50 per tonne on Monday afternoon, l...Read More

Daniel Hisshion has joined Hong Kong-based minor metals company Fortis Metals as business development director, he confirmed to Fastmarkets. Fortis Metals, headquartered in Hong Kong, has a sister company Kite Metals in Europe, owns United States-based minor metals refiner and recycler Atlantic Metals & Alloys as well as Fortis Metals (Shenzhen) for operations in China.Hisshion - with over 25 year...Read More

Key data from the alumina index, fob Australia pricing session on Monday March 16. Key drivers: Fastmarkets' daily fob Australia alumina index falls 2% on Monday March 16 from $303.71 per tonne on Friday March 13.  One recent deal for 30,000 tonnes of Western Australian alumina concluded at $294.75 per tonne, with laycan between April 20-29.Market participants...Read More

Demand for secondary aluminium is likely to be adversely affected after German automaker Volkswagen announced, on Sunday March 15, that it will suspend output at its European production hub in Bratislava, Slovakia on March 23.VW's move came after the Slovakian government declared a state of emergency earlier on Sunday due to the spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-CoV).There were reports of...Read More

Rio Tinto has slowed work on the underground project at its Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia because of the coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak but it continues to operate and ship copper concentrates from the mine's open pit. Since January the movement of goods and people in Mongolia have been restricted within and across its border; this has further escalated recently after the first case of...Read More

Special bar quality (SBQ) steel prices in the United States were flat across the cold-finished and hot-rolled grades during March, with market participants reporting continued soft demand offsetting rising ferrous scrap costs amid mounting concerns over the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV).On the hot-rolled side, Fastmarkets' monthly assessment for steel bar hot-rolled special bar quality (SBQ) 1-inc...Read More

Steel plate prices in the United States fell after the public-health fight against Covid-19 inflicted more financial and economic turmoil, convincing buyers to assume a more cautious stance on inventory.Fastmarkets' assessment for steel cut-to-length plate carbon grade, fob mill US fell to $30.50 per hundredweight ($610 per short ton) on Friday March 13, down from $31 per cwt ($620 per ton) o...Read More

The automobile industry in the United States is on the edge due to the fast spread of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) across the western hemisphere, which has caused multiple auto plant closures in hard-hit European countries."All options related to protecting against exposure to the virus are on the table," according to a task force formed by the United Auto Workers (UAW) union, Gener...Read More

Hot-rolled coil pricing in the United States rose slightly on Monday March 16, with mills maintaining their asking prices while pointing out that upcoming outages will reduce supply.Fastmarkets' daily steel hot-rolled coil index, fob mill US was calculated at $28.73 per hundredweight ($574.60 per short ton) on Monday, up by 1.7% from $28.25 per cwt on Friday and a 0.5% increase from $28.58 pe...Read More

March 16, 2020VANCOUVER, B.C. and TORONTO, ON- March 16, 2020 - NxGold Ltd. (TSXV: NXN) ("NxGold" or the "Company") and Mega Uranium Ltd. (TSX: MGA) ("Mega") announce that, due to adverse market conditions, they have mutually agreed not to proceed with the proposed change of business of NxGold from a mining issuer to a uranium-focused investment issuer and the acquisition of a portfolio of securit...Read More

RAPAPORT... Mountain Province has delayed its year-end results by a week due to the effects of the coronavirus, the Canadian diamond miner said Monday.The company and its auditors have been unable to complete the relevant work in time for the March 16 release date due to travel restrictions and self-isolation, it noted. The outbreak has not disrupted operations at its Gahcho Ku?(C) mine in th...Read More

RAPAPORT... The impact of the coronavirus on US retail supply chains may be larger than previously expected, as disruptions to transportation are likely to affect imports in March and April, the National Retail Federation (NRF) said.The NRF was already predicting a sharp drop in imports of goods from mainland China due to factory shutdowns and travel restrictions. However, as the virus spreads, sh...Read More

RAPAPORT... Diamond resources at Lucapa Diamond Company's Lulo alluvial mine in Angola are 25% higher than it originally estimated, according to an independent valuation.Lulo has 100,700 carats remaining in the mine, a December 2019 study by external consulting company Z Star Mineral Resource Consultants has found. That figure was reevaluated from a previous Lulo resource estimation conducted in D...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Pandora, the affordable jewelry retailer, today withdrew its financial guidance for 2020 saying it was "no longer meaningful" in light of the coronavirus pandemic.It also announced it had axed plans to buy back further shares.The Denmark-based company has 7,400 outlets and 28,000 employees, half of them manufacturing its goods in Thailand.Like-for-like sales in China had fallen bet...Read More

(IDEX Online) - GSI is to offer grading reports which identify enhancements to lab-grown diamondsIt says the move will increase consumer confidence by providing buyers with reliable information.The New York-based laboratory says that unlike other labs, it will disclose whether a diamond has undergone post-growth treatments or enhancements.Their reports include the same essential information a...Read More

Export prices for pig iron from the south of Brazil were stable in new sales heard during the week that ended on Friday March 13.Fastmarkets' weekly price assessment for pig iron, export, fob port of Vitoria/Rio, was $320-325 per tonne on Friday, unchanged week on week.One sale was reported at $324-325 per tonne fob for May shipment to a trader in the United States market.But the majority of marke...Read More

(IDEX Online) - Estimated diamond reserves at the Lulo mine, in Angola, have been revised up by 25 per cent.Independent consultants have assessed in-situ resources as 100,700 carats, more than five times the 2019 output of around 19,000 carats.They also say the average dollar per carat value is 14 per cent higher than previously thought, up from $1,420 to $1,620.The Australia-based Lucapa Diamond...Read More